Check out "Soft Serv" by The Bickersons, the band from we-are-changers CHANGERS BOOK ONE: DREW! You can download "Soft Serv" and their covers of "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" and "Sweet Sixteen" for FREE via Soundcloud!
And check out videos of them performing LIVE at the Los Angeles Public Library a few weeks ago!
UPDATE: If you haven't been to the Disneyland Resort in a while, it's time to go back. Disney's California Adventure, or "The Other Park," as it was often groaned in the past, has completely transformed into a place that you want to visit. Indeed, as a frequent visitor myself, I can attest that the changes are almost all for the better—especially concerning the food. Before the renovation, you could find good food (as evidenced in the list below), but the selections were never center-stage. For that reason, the food always felt more like theme park concessions than the carefully curated menu items that you find across the giant compass at Disneyland. That has all changed, and in an upcoming post, we'll snack our way through the new California Adventure. In the meantime, I wanted to resurface this old post.
This was first published on the old LA Foodie blog in October of 2009. In a way, we get to do a little bit of culinary time-traveling. Some of the foods on the list aren't there anymore (noted where relevant). There are selections from both parks.
(originally published 10/14/2009)
As I confessed in my earlier post, Top 10 Best Foods at Disneyland, I spend more time at Disneyland than any man in his early 30s should probably ever admit. One of the main reasons for this is that the food is pretty exceptional—and it seems like I make a new culinary discovery every time I go back.
That said, it’s high time I post an addendum to the list I crafted last year. This time, I’ve broadened the scope to include food at Disney’s California Adventure, which sits directly across from Disneyland.
10) Soft-Serve Swirl Cone at Catch a Flave (California Adventure)
NOTE: Catch a Flave is still there, but they no longer serve these beautiful flavor-infused cones. It's just run-of-the-mill soft serv now.
I’m not a huge ice cream eater, but the urge struck me just right one hot summer day, and I indulged in a swirl cone. And oh… my… goodness. The ice cream was incredibly creamy and rich—bordering on frozen custard, it seemed.
9) Lobster Nachos at Ariel’s Grotto (California Adventure)
NOTE: Still available. The staff is notoriously slow. Sit at the bar—not a table. And be prepared to wait.
Whenever I order lobster nachos at a restaurant, I usually have the same complaint: too much chip, not enough lobster. Not the case here. Ariel’s Grotto piles on a surprisingly heavy helping of the crustacean, and not a single chip goes unused.
8) Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Sandwich at Greetings from California (California Adventure)
NOTE: Greetings From California is gone, replaced by Buena Vista Street. But you can still find this amazing thing in candy shops throughout the resort. (If you know of a specific location, will you post it in the comments below?)
I haven’t tried every confection at the sweets counter in California Adventure, and I’m sure plenty of them merit mention. But the peanut butter sandwich is definitely a standout among what I have tried. A thick creamy layer of peanut butter on a perfectly crisp cookie, slathered in the ideal amount of chocolate. (Drool.)
7) Cobb Salad at Plaza Inn (Disneyland)
NOTE: Still there, and still awesome.
I know what you’re thinking. I’m shocked that there’s a salad on this list, too. But if you’ve ever had the Disneyland cobb salad, you’ll know why it’s here. And you’ll also know that it’s hardly the salad you order when you’re watching your figure. Mounds of cheese, meat and goodness of all kinds, tossed in a creamy blue cheese dressing, with a breadstick on the side. It’s a staple in my Disneyland diet. (Plus, if you don’t feel like fighting the fireworks crowd at night, you can buy a salad, plop down in the Plaza Inn’s ample seating area, and enjoy a decent view of the exploding night sky above the hedges that line the restaurant’s patio.)
6) Bleu Cheese and Wine Pairing at Terrace Wine Tasting (California Adventure)
NOTE: Still there. Pro tip: see the balcony above the bar? That's ANOTHER bar that opens in the evening. Totally secluded, shady, and quiet. Totally awesome.
I don’t know much about wine, but I love listening to people who do. And the staff at the Terrace Wine Tasting bar at California Adventure certainly seems to know its stuff. The bleu cheese and red wine pairing was a lot of fun. The cheeses, delicious in their own right, were paired perfectly with their red wine counterparts. And I had a Disney cast member on hand the whole time to walk me through what I was tasting and explain why it all worked so well together.
5) Jumbo Rice Krispie Treat at Greetings from California (California Adventure)
NOTE: Greetings from California is gone. But these things are everywhere. And they are damn tasty.
Much like the peanut butter sandwich, you just have to eat one of these to understand. And I recommend you do. Never has a more sublime krispie-to-mallow ratio been achieved.
4) Cheddar Broccoli Soup in a Bread Bowl at Pacific Wharf Café (California Adventure)
NOTE: Still there. Still hotter than the sun. (Let it cool off first).
The soup is quite good. But you order it for the bread bowl, which is phenomenal. How can it not be when it was just pulled out of the oven at the Boudin bakery next door?
3) Free Fresh Tortilla at the Mission Tortilla Factory (California Adventure)
NOTE: It's gone. BUT it has been replaced by the Ghirardelli Soda Fountain. Good trade.
The brief tour at the Mission Tortilla Factory at California Adventure is cute, and it’s worth doing once. So, why have I done the tour more than an estimated two dozen times? Because of the free fresh-off-the-conveyor-belt tortilla at the end, of course. (And come on… how many things at a theme park are free?)
2) Fried Chicken Dinner at Plaza Inn (Disneyland)
NOTE: Still there, still fried, still delicious, still one of my favorites.
I owe this discovery to a friend. She wouldn’t stop talking about the chicken dinner at the Plaza Inn, and I finally gave it a try just to shut her up. But man, she was right. It’s not just good because it’s fried chicken. It’s good fried chicken. You win again, Disneyland. (And the fireworks view I mentioned with the cobb salad applies here too.)
1) Family-Style Barbecue Feast at Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue (Disneyland)
NOTE: Still there. In fact, I just ate there this past Wednesday. It's a little bit on the expensive side. But if you're in the mood for what I call "fake-but-good" BBQ, you're gonna want to get yourself a bucket of ribs. Pro tip: Tell them to stop bringing anything but ribs. They'll just keep bringing you buckets of ribs until you tell them to stop. This is how kings are treated. KINGS.
One of Disneyland’s newest newish dining options is also one of its most noteworthy. Dinner at the ranch is a family-style all-you-can-eat extravaganza of barbecue chicken and ribs, smoked sausages, cole slaw, baked beans, corn on the cob and cornbread. It comes at a price (a few bucks shy of $30 a person), but the food is good, the setting is rustic and relaxing, and there’s no loophole to the all-you-can-eat clause. Before we even touched our meal, my friend demanded an extra bucket filled exclusively with ribs. And our waitress happily obliged—that time, as well as several other times during the course of our dinner.
